Sunday Funday + Snap Pea Bacon Salad

Happy Sunday!!! I'm not sure about you but Sunday's around here are anything but Rest! This is the first time I've sat down all day long, from making breakfast, to teaching Body Pump, grocery shopping, dinner, cleaning bathrooms and the list goes on! But its been a great weekend full of family time which is my idea of the perfect weekend!

Saturday we decided to take the boys to Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh. We LOVE that place, even when its crowded they still have a blast! Here are some pictures from our fun at Marbles. 

After the museum we had dinner at the Mellow Mushroom..........sigh........it was delicious don't get me wrong but man....I felt pretty guilty afterwards. Aaron and I got their stuffed mushrooms which were amazing and not to unhealthy and we shared a Cesar Pizza. So it coulda been worse but I still came home that evening and threw on the the sneakers and hit the pavement for a few sprints, which made me feel a lil less guilty. 

Today I decided to make a Snap Pea Bacon salad recipe that I got from a website called Ilovefetacheese and let me tell you....it was AMAZING!!! An absolute must make for sure. I will say it wasn't too kid friendly, but my kids have been begging me all week for a happy meal so they could get the new smurf toy soo I thought today would be the day so that way I could make the salad for Aaron and I. Here's the recipe!

Snap Pea Bacon Salad

2 cups of sugar snap peas

1/2 bunch asparagus ( I used white)

3 slices of bacon (yes real bacon)

1/4 cup slivered almonds

6oz wild salmon

Olive Oil

salt and pepper

The Dressing

4 tbsp light coconut milk

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper

1) Preheat oven to 400. In a shallow dish prepare your salmon. Spray the dish then cover in olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder

2) Cook bacon in a pan on medium heat. Once its done place it on a plate and pat it with paper towel to remove grease. 3) While the bacon is cooking wash peas and asparagus. Start chopping your peas into about three sections per pod. Once bacon is cooked drain pan on most of its grease. 

4) Place the asparagus in the hot pan with a tad of the bacon grease, cover and let steam for 5 min

once asparagus is done remove from pan and let it cool,  then cut them in to bite size pieces as well. 

Layer it up, with the uncooked peas, chopped bacon, and
asparagus. Add some dressing.

Top with Salmon and add more dressing if desired!

Now I'm not kidding when I say this was delicious. Seriously, Aaron described it as fancy restaurant good! It would be a great to make for Date Night In for sure and just order the kiddos a pizza! Ha! <<kidding>>I'm also pretty pumped cause I have not one but two plastic containers of this ready to go for lunch for tomorrow and Tuesday! Next time I would probably remove all the bacon grease from the pan and just simply steam the asparagus with a little water and olive oil. But other than that....follow the recipe to a T and I have no doubt you'll love it! 

Weekend Food

I the usual all 3 mornings for breakfast 3 egg whites with chickpeas and spinach w/black coffee

Morning Snacks- I had protein shakes all three days

Lunch-Fri. Tuna salad on rice cake and 2 boiled eggs, Sat. leftover chili, Sunday Baked sweet potato

Afternoon snack- Fri. Quest Bar, Sat. Cantaloupe w/cottage cheese, Sunday Muscle milk from the gym

Dinner- Fri. leftover chili, Sat. Mellow Mushroom and Sun. Snap Pea Salad

and I basically ate an entire honey dew Saturday night! So good! 

Weekend Workouts

Friday- Leg Day

Leg Curl 2x20 using 40lbs

Leg extension 2x20 using 60lbs

Squats w/bar 2x20 using 20lbs for 10 and 30lbs for 10

180 Jump Squats 5x10 with 2 equaling one

Mountain climbers 2x1min

Lunges 3x1min holding 25lb kettlebells on each side

Deadlifts 2x20 using 70lb bar

After all this I taught Body Pump and went lighter on my usual weight on the leg tracks

Late Saturday evening I ran 8 flat ground sprints that were about the length of a football field and ran 3 miles between running to the park and back home. Topped it off with 30 tricep dips off my front porch steps. 

Today I taught Body Pump and stayed for Body Combat! Awesome combo!!!

Friday, Aaron lost a good friend, who was killed in Afghanistan. Jered Ewy was his name. He and his wife Megan had just welcomed their first baby girl in June. Please say a prayer for his family and his wife......that hopefully they can find  some sort of comfort during this tragic time. It's just awful....it was his first trip to Afghanistan and he hadn't been there but maybe a month.
Makes my heart soo heavy.......and sort of feel a sense of guilt just going about our daily lives even though I know there's nothing I can do to help. So just please keep them in your prayers....as well as all the soldiers that are deployed and their families who are struggling everyday to make life somewhat normal for their kids without Daddy home and to not show an ounce of worry on their face even though their cell phone is attached to their hip just hoping that this is the hour that they get to hear their husbands sweet voice on the phone with reassurance that Today, ....he's okay!

http://www.newsok.com/two-oklahoma-national-guard-soldiers-killed-in-afghanistan/article/3590604?custom_click=lead_story_title

High Gear + Almond Butter Whey Cookie Recipe

I've decided to kick my workouts into high gear. Ya know setting a new standard for my daily sweat sessions. I plan on lifting more often and killing the cardio and my abs on a weekly basis, instead of sorta checking the daily workout box. It honestly feels great to leave the gym drenched in sweat knowing that theres no way you could possibly do another rep of anything!

This morning my friend Kathleen and I decided to test ourselves using the Fit Test in this month's Oxygen magazine. It included a series of 4 different exercises and ranked you as "in need of a bit of work" to "you're a fitness goddess" based on your performance.
First up, the push up with your feet elevated 10 or more, One arm dumbbell row, Single-legged squat with knee tap, and finally a 300-yard shuttle run! She and I made the fitness goddess level on a couple of the exercises but not all of them. It was nice to see where I ranked (according to Oxygen) and I plan on doing it again in a month or so and hopefully my results will have improved from today.

After that we did Back and Biceps workout
~Pull ups using 90lb resistance 5 sets of 4 (sooo weak....damn pull ups...one day I will do one)
~Back Row Machine 2X20 using 70lbs for 10 and 60lbs for 30
~Dumbbell Curls 2X20 using 20lb dumbbells
~Hammer Curls to the side 2X20 using 15lbs for 20 and 20lbs for 20
~Over head tricep extension 2X20 using a 25lb plate
~Lat Pull wide grip 2X20 using 70lbs
~Tricep Dips 1 set to failure and I was only able to do 20

This evening I made it to Body Combat, one of my absolute favorite classes that we have to offer. It's basically kick boxing moves with a lot of jumping around! Great for the whole body if you ask me. I would love to wear a calorie counter in there cause I'm sure my numbers would be high. I think its funny how yoga is after combat and in order to even attempt the core track in combat I have to use a yoga mat for my hands because they are so sweaty, I'm sure the yoga people love getting my sweaty mat....gross oh well. Great class though!!!

Today I decided to make an interesting twist on Tuna Salad for lunch. I'm sure some of you will probably really think this sounds gross but it was Deeeeeeee-Licious if you ask me so I'll share.

Tuna Salad served on a Rice Cake with 1/2 sweet potato

1 large can of white tuna drained

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup mustard

2 tsp stevia

salt and pepper

I know it sounds odd to add the sweetener but I love sweet pickles in my tuna normally and I didn't have any soo.....stevia it was! But really this was delicious and I Will be making it again! Yum yum!

I also made the Almond Butter Whey Cookies that are featured in Oxygen magazine. 

Preheat oven 350 degrees

1/2 cup oats ( I used quick oats and put them in food processor)

1tbsp almond butter

1 scoop of vanilla whey protein powder

1 egg white

2 packets of stevia to taste

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/8 cup carob chips ( I used dark chocolate chips)

1. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (which I'm just now reading this and obviously I didn't do)
2. Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl using your hands.
3.shape the dough into golf ball sized balls. Place on cookie sheet and bake for about 10 min


I quadrupled this recipe and made about 15 cookies. I also added a shake of cinnamon as well as a dash of water to lube the mother up! They turned out good...And and I both enjoyed them and he'll be taking them for breakfast in the morning however these tasty treats did NOT win over my boys at all! Sooooo, not for the whole family but a great snack for on the go busy adults!

Today's Food

Breakfast- a few bites of the boys Cream of Wheat and a banana 

Post workout-Vanilla Whey protein shake with unsweetened almond milk

Lunch-1 plain rice cake topped with Tuna Salad and 1/2 sweet potato sprinkled with cinnamon

Snack-plain dry almonds and a few banana chips

Dinner-Turkey Chili from last night

Dessert-Almond butter whey cookie

Soaking up some Sun + (Turkey Chili Recipe)

This summer really has been pretty great. Some of my favorite childhood memories come from those days when my Mom would pack a cooler and we'd make a whole day out of swimming! So, I make sure my boys get plenty of Pool Days! Here are some pictures of Brock and Tripp and their gym/pool buddies!

"The Crew" with the exception of Camden who's away
at Science camp this week

Brock and Zoe

Capt. Butt Crack

My Pool Lunch
Mixed green salad with 1 can of tun and balsamic vinegar and 3
hard boiled eggs!

So after yet another day of fun in the sun and interesting poolside conversations between the Momma's we headed home. I was pretty impressed with myself this evening. Considering we didn't make it home until 3:15pm, I managed to throw together a batch of turkey chili, get the boys a snack, shower, and make it back to the gym for my Cardio Crunch class at 5:30!!!! Now thats what I call hustling! 

Here's the recipe for the Turkey Chili courtesy of my friend Laura

1/2 onion

2 zucchini (small/med)

1-2 green peppers

2 whole jalapeno peppers sliced thin without the seeds removed(I left these out)

2 cloves of minced garlic (I used 3)

2lbs lean ground Turkey browned and drained

1  28oz can diced tomatoes

1 can kidney beans drained and rinsed

1+ cup of water

1 small 12oz bottle V8 ( I used tomato soup instead)

4-5 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin (I left this out cause I need to restock)

sea salt to taste

Served with Kashi pita crackers and cheddar cheese
This is the Brock's bowl....I didn't add cheese to mine.
 

Saute all  fresh veggies in a skillet until soft but not mushy. Brown meat also in a different skillet. Mix veggies and Meat into a stock pot, add in tomatoes, beans, water, spices, and V8. Boil and then turn down to simmer for 20+ min. I also added a can of black beans. It was delicious and the whole family loved it and we have leftovers which never happens around these parts!

Today's Workout

no weights today because I plan on hitting them hard tomorrow

I taught Cardio Crunch this evening and we did

~some simple step

~burpees

~lunges

~mtn climbers

~jacks

~and a ton of abs 15 min worth to be exact! I love this class, and tonight we had a huge crowd! Love Love my gym folks!

Today's Food

The usual for breakfast + 1, 4 egg whites/chickpeas/spinach

Salad with Tuna and 3 hard boiled eggs for lunch

A bowl of turkey chili pre-workout minus the pita crackers and cheese

A bigger bowl of turkey chili post workout :) minus the pita crackers and cheese

a few almonds and greek yogo sweetened with stevia and blueberries for dessert 

I didn't snack much today which I should probably fix that tomorrow

Feeling Good! ( Ratatouille Recipe)

I know its only Tuesday but its already been a great week! Getting back into our gym/pool routine has done wonders for the Sullivan household! Also.....Aaron had a pretty big test in his school today that he passed with flying colors so he's back to being a less stressed happy camper! Tonight I decided to try Ratatouille for two reasons, 1) Because I like its name and the Disney movie is too cute and 2) I had all the ingredients in the fridge!
Ratatouille
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves peeled and sliced

Served over whole wheat pasta
and grilled chicken breast!

1 small bay leaf
1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (about 3 cups)
1 small zucchini, halved and lengthwise cut into thin slices
1 red bell pepper cut into slivers
4 plum tomatoes coarsely chopped about 1 1/4 cups
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup shredded fresh basil leaves
freshly ground black pepper

1) Over med heat, add oil to a large skillet with the onion, garlic and bay leaf stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened
2) Add the eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 min or until the eggplant has softened. Stir in zucchini, bell pepper, tomatoes, and salt  and cook over med heat, stirring occasionally for 5-7 min or until veggies are tender. Stir in the basil and few grinds of pepper to taste.
I'm pretty sure I used more oil than this recipe recommends to keep it all lubed up as the vegetables cooked. Also I added about 1/3 cup of chicken broth that I had leftover in the fridge, and I added salt to taste.
I had to make Brock eat the veggies however Tripp and Aaron loved it!

Today's workout
Taught Body Pump this morning and completed two rounds of a Circuit with my friend Kathleen
~burpees using Bosu ball
~Wall sit with 18lb ball paired with an oblique twist
~Superman isometric hold for the lower back
~Skaters alternating with a 10lb DMB
We did each station for a minute with a minute to rest inbetween

This evening I decided to go back for a lil Yoga with my good friend Michelle! I must admit I'm pretty terrible at Yoga, however I love when I take the time to treat myself. You really do feel amazing afterwards. My favorite part is the Savasana at the end literally meaning "corpse pose" where you lie on your back, shut your eyes and completely relax while the instructor says all kinds of neat things that you don't normally think about like "take your tongue to the roof of your mouth to allow your jaw to relax." It sounds silly but you end up doing it and you actually do find that your whole face and head feel more relaxed.  I also love when they come around during Savasana and adjust you by every so slightly lifting your ankles and setting them back down, or flipping your hands to where your palms are facing up, or gently pressing on your shoulders.

Food for Today
My metabolism really must be picking up cause I feel as though I'm STARVING all the time
Anyways I had the usual eggwhite/spinach/chickpea combo for breakfast
Post workout I had a chocolate Muscle Milk
Dinner I had a chicken breast with the ratatouille and a few of the noodles
Post Yoga I had vanilla protein shake with unsweetened almond milk, PB2, and unsweetened coconut (my new favorite treat)
this evening I had an orange

It's funny because I literally haven't lost or gained any weight in over two years. I've just maintained and I was okay with that. But since I've cleaned up my diet by cutting my carbs, giving up alcohol,  sugar, and CHOCOLATE I have lost 6lbs, my clothes are starting to fit loose, and I'm feeling better than I've ever felt in my life! True Story! I'm actually looking forward to having my body fat checked again to see how my lifestyle change has made a difference! So what are you waiting for!!!!!! Tomorrow's a new day!

Also Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet niece Mikayla who turns 11 today as well as my baby cousin Courtney!!!

Happy Monday! (Garlic Chicken & Banana Pancake Recipe)

Happy Monday Folks!!! In case you don't know me...I (for the most part) LOVE Monday's! Monday's are a great chance to start over....set new goals for the week, like a clean slate! With the kids finally" back in the land of the living" as my good friend Michelle put it, I went a lil overboard with the gym today! But that's ok....all their lil buddies were there and we went swimming so it was a great fun filled day!

This weekend I made Garlic Chicken and it was delicious, easy , and not full of weird ingredients! Here's the recipe
Garlic Chicken
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2  large onion diced
6-8 celery stalks
4 large carrot sticks
2-3lb chicken breast cut up
20-30 garlic cloves peeled
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp lemon juice

Heat oil in frying pan, add onion, carrots, and celery, stirring until soft with slotted spoon
Transfer to a baking dish that has a tight fitting lid ( I use my deep dish baker from Pampered Chef)
Lay Chicken on top of veggies and sprinkle with lemon juice and salt and pepper
Lay garlic around and on the chicken.....Cover and Bake @ 350 for 1 hour.

For someone who is trying to cut out bread and grains I personally LOVED this dish, however for the rest of the family I served it with sweet potatoes!











This weekend I also made  Banana Pancakes.
1 ripe banana

1 cup oat flour (quick oats in the food processor)
1/3 cup coconut flour
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1% Milk...Honestly I didn't measure how much I just kept adding more until it was moist enough to pour into pan

They turned out really good...however next time I may double the recipe to make more.

Here's a picture of a honey dew melon that Tripp and I picked up at the Angier Farmer's Market on Saturday and it was Delicious!!!!












WorkOuts
This morning I worked on Sprints using the TreadMill
I did 10 Sprints at an incline of 3% and a speed of 10 for 30 seconds on and 30 seconds of rest
After that I did some abs
Bicep Rows using 20lb DMB 10x2 with one leg extended
Bicep rows using 25lb DMB 8x2
Over Head Press using 20lb DMB 10x1
OverHead Press using 25lb DMB 8x2
and a few Mountain Climbers
This evening I taught Body Pump with Andie and Stayed for Body Combat!!!! Great Day
Today's Food
3 egg whites with spinach and chickpeas for breakfast
1 protein shake with unsweetened almond milk post workout
Mixed Green Salad with 1 can of white tuna and topped with balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup cottage Cheese with strawberries and blueberries
1 berry quest bar
3 more egg whites with spinach and chickpeas before evening workout
1 protein shake with unsweetened coconut and 1 tbsp of PB2 (freakin Delicious!!!)
Steamed broccoli and cauliflower with 1/2 cup cottage cheese

Insanity Workout with a side of Blueberries (revised Mini Turkey Loaves and BlueBerry Crepe Recipes)

Since I've only been to the gym twice this week due to our sick babes, I was determined to get in there last night. Friday night workouts are rare for me but let me tell you, I love a Friday night workout. The gym is basically bare so I usually go into the group exercise room all by myself, plug my iPod into the sound system and gets some serious work D-O-N-E! I decided to set up a crazy circuit that involved many stations, and I never did any  exercise more than once, instead I did each exercise until I could no longer do it anymore and move on to the next. I tried to do a Plyometric /Strength using Weight/ and Isometric holds, REpeat!

Here's a pic of the craziness...each piece of equipment
is a station. 

Plyometrics included

~Burpees using the bosu ball, Mountain Climbers, Bear Crawl (not sure that thats an actual plyo but its a fabulous exercise) Star Jumps, Tuck Jumps, Box Jumps, Alternating jumping Lunges

Strength included

~ Side bicep curls using 20lb dmb

~Tricep Dips

~Chest Press using 20lb dmb while lying on exercise ball

~Standing Over Head Press using 20lb dmb

~Standing over head tricep extension using 25lb plate

~Side Sholder Raise Using 20lb dmb

~ Standing shoulder Mac Raise using 12lb dmb

~ Kneeling Real Delts using 15lb dmb

~Push Up's

~Squats using 40lb body pump bar

~Walking Lunges using 40lb body pump bar

~Regular Bicep curl using 40lb body pump bar

~Single Rows using the 40lb body pump bar

Isometric Holds/Abs

~Lying Crunch with feet elevated using 25lb plate

~Side Oblique crunch with both feet elevated

~Leg Raise Center and Sides

~Bicycle Crunch Slow

~Plank

~Plank with hand touches out to the side

~Plank with Rock back and forth

~Wall Sit

~Super Man on the floor for the lower back

No interruptions and solid work for about an hour and 1/2 = my idea of a Friday Night! Ha! 

Afterwards on my way out I noticed a few ladies that often come to my Body Pump classes lingering over at the soccer field, so I stopped by and joined them for a few sprints to top off the night! 

minus the garlic clove

Before I left for the gym I made dinner and decided to give my Mini Turkey Loaves a pick me up! I should just name them Everything But the Kitchen Sink Loaves but thats a lil long. Here's my new recipe

1 package of 93/7 lean Ground Turkey

2 Carrot Sticks

1/3 cup raw kale (yes I still have some kale in the fridge that needs to be used)

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 celery stick

2 tbsp ground Flax Seed

1 egg

Dash of Sea Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder

Mix all the veggies, egg, spices, cottage cheese, flax seed in your food processor

Fold mixture into meat

Spoon onto cooking sheet or baking dish

Bake at 400 for about 30 min until done

I really liked how they turned out this time! Just right if you ask me.....however Aaron said he had to add ketchup to them to get the boys to eat them, but I'm ok with with considering everything thats included! 

I served them with Sweet Potato Fries, and steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower 

Sweet Potato Fries

2 Large Sweet Potatoes peeled and cut into fries

2 tbsp flax seed

2 tsp or more cinnamon

3 tbsp light olive oil

Spray cooking sheet with Pam , Arrange Sweet Potatoes on the cooking sheet, Drizzle olive oil over the fries, and sprinkle flax seed and cinnamon on top! Bake at 400 for 20 or so min until they smush when you touch them lol These babies are DELICIOUS seriously the flax seed makes them seem as if they are almost breaded or actually fried, it provides a nice texture mix for your lovely buds and the cinnamon puts them over the top (if you ask me :) They also reheat well so put the leftovers in the fridge and enjoy again tomorrow! 

This morning I had been awake since 5am, and about to fall off the bed with an oh so sexy husband on the opposite side, and two lil guys sleeping so sound in the middle. Not to mention we have a queen size bed! So I decided that sleep wasn't gonna happen and I planned on sneaking out of the house and going to the blueberry farm all by myself, until.... Tripp caught me. So I packed him up and off we went while Daddy and Brock were snoozing away. We were able to pick about $10 worth until I could no longer take his whining so we left and hit up the Angier farmers market on the way to the house. We made it back with blueberries, 3 egg plants, 3 Large and delicious looking red bell peppers and a HoneyDew melon! 

Isn't it a lil early for this

Bed Head

This week in Oxygen magazine they had a recipe for some Protein Blueberry Crepes, and I decided to give them a try. Here is the recipe that the magazine provided however I tweaked it just a tad

Oxygen's Version of Protein Blueberry Crepes

4 egg whites

1/2-1 scoop whey protein powder

1 cup blueberries

2 packets Stevia

1 tbsp cinnamon or unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tbsp almond butter

Now here's my version of Protein BlueBerry Crepes 

For the Crepe

4 egg whites and 1 scoop of Vanilla Whey protein powder

Beat together until smooth (which for me took a longer than I wanted it to and my arm got tired lol)

Pour into pan and let it spread far so that way it'll be thin and only cook it on one side for about 2 min......then place it on a plate and add in a small amount of the filling in the middle (less is more here because the filling is insanely rich) top with a few blueberries and fold

filling

For the filling

2 tbsp Almond Butter

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp water

dash of cocoa powder

Combine all ingredients over low-med heat in a small sauce pan on the stove (feel free to add any more or less of any of the ingredients here....almond butter can be tough so you have to thin it out if you ask me which I may have added more water than that......I just needed it to be smooth) Also Brock did not like the "chocolate taste" so next time I may leave out the cocoa and just add a sprinkle of cinnamon

They were Surprisingly Good though......Aaron and I really liked them and I'll be making them again, also ....I plan on making a few new twists to the filling and creating my own....to be continued! Ha!

Body Pump paired with a little Workout Rant

78 Launch Shoulder Track

Some of you may be asking, What is this Body Pump you speak of?? Well I'll tell ya.....It's a 1 hour strength conditioning class using a barbell, and hits every major muscle group! The instructors receive notes and a DVD with the material to learn every quarter. So everytime you go to class you know just about what your gonna get. With each new release the music changes as well as the moves, but not by much and the sequence of muscle groups remains the same. I personally LOVE body pump or any class put out by Les Mills (Body Combat, Body Flow, Body Attack, CX30, etc.) its a great way to get in your strength training in one hour and hitting everything that counts. Its also great for beginners who are absolutely lost in the weight room. All fitness levels are welcomed with open arms. We offer several modifications for every track. I've had women in their 60's in my class as well as teens and all shapes and sizes for sure!  Body Pump is recommended 2-3 times per week paired with cardio and a clean diet! Here are a few pics from our 78 Launch last night. I taught with my good friend Andie and it was a blast as usual!!!!

Body Pump Peeps!

Squats

Andie Rocking it out to Sweet Child of Mine during the
Chest Track that never seems to end!!

LOVE LOVE this

As far as my personal workouts go, I really only have one or maybe two rules that I follow....ok make that three! I don't discriminate when it comes to exercise, I love to try it all, all classes as well as stuff on the cardio deck and in the weight room.  Never get stuck doing the same thing over and over. I believe its best to always keep your muscles guessing what you'll be doing next and offering little to no rest during the workout itself. Also I usually only take one rest day per week. And keep in mind that "Life begins right outside the comfort zone!" It's true though, if you can carry on a conversation or God forbid be able to read a magazine while your on a machine, you are clearly NOT working hard enough if you ask me. People that just go plug their ear buds into a cardio machine, and work up a decent sweat and call it a day.....No....nothing will get accomplished by doing that. Is it better than doing nothing at all?....of course it is, but we all have goals and would like to make certain areas less giggly sooo why not strive for that! I'm a huge fan of interval training, in fact I believe its the only way to go no matter what type of exercise your doing. If your running for miles and miles at a time preparing for a race or something...thats fine but don't really expect to see any real changes in your body at all. So what do you do instead of just running on the treadmill....well try Sprints, go as hard and as fast as you can for 30 sec, straddle the belt and rest for a minute. Try doing it 8-10times. Next add an incline of something crazy like 12 and walk for a min and rest for a min. Keep changing it up to see what works for you.

This weekend I plan on working on a post that is full of NO EQUIPMENT workouts or exercises for all you folks who have asked :)

Today's Workout
~ Taught Body Pump
~ Cardio Circuit 3 exercises, 6 sets, 15 reps
   Squat/wall ball throw using 12lb weighted ball, Jump Straddles using a bench, Reverse Pull Ups!
Food for the Day
~ 3 egg whites with kale and chickpeas with black coffee
~ 2 leftover Oscar Burgers , no bun, with cantaloupe and cottage cheese
~ Dinner will be Clean BBQ chicken with baked sweet potato and asparagus!

~ Snacks...1 whey protein shake with unsweetened almond milk and 1 oatmeal raisin ball with hot green tea for this sore throat of mine! (yes the oatmeal raisin balls are still in the fridge, they keep really well)

I feel like I might be catching what the boys had, ugh....so say a lil prayer that its just in my head! Ha!

Christmas/Cabin Fever in July

With both of my lil guys now sick we are officially forced to quarantine ourselves in the house until further notice! Yesterday was full of cinematic adventures, popsicles, and frozen yogurts in the tube. Nothing clean about the yogurt or the popsicles, but when your lil guys are sick , you sometimes have to break the rules. That reminds me, I really wanna make some popsicles before the summer is over.

For some reason Brock decided that he wanted to watch Christmas Movies. He picked out A Christmas Carol, as well as the Grinch.  So I thought what a better time to find that Clean Hot CoCoa recipe that I saw not to long ago and give it a whirl! 

Clean Hot CoCoa

4 cups unsweetened Almond Milk

3/4 Cup agave or honey

2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne (optional and I chose to leave it out)

3tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

                        

And here she is...topped with a couple chocolate swirl marsh-mellow and riding in style sportin the Marvel coffee mug of course!
















I also decided to go ahead and give Jamie Eason's Chocolate Protein Bars a shot, and I'm glad I did! They were sooooo yummy!
Preheat oven at 350
1 cup oat flour ( I used quick cook oats and threw them in the food processor)
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 scoops of chocolate whey protein
1 tsp baking soda
3 tbsp baking cocoa
 3/4 cup egg whites ( I used 3 egg whites)
4 packets of no carb stevia (I used 2 tbsp of stevia, but next time maybe 2 1/2)
8 oz berry flavored baby food & 2oz Water

 

Mix wet and Dry ingredients separately then mix the two together with No lumps. Bake in a greased 8x8 pan for 25 min @ 350 degrees

Here they are served with a scoop of Fat Free Cool whip sprinkled with a lil cocoa. Fat Free cool whip is one Un-Clean food that I'm having issues with......I leave it in the freezer and I literally have myself believing that its ice cream. 

Tonight was one of those Nights where I just did not feel like cooking....one of those nights where the Maggie 3 months ago would have ordered take out Chinese or Pizza, but tonight I literally opened the fridge and created something that was surprisingly good and Healthy! I suppose I'll call them Oscar Turkey Burgers inspired than non other than Oscar the Grouch himself! Ha! 

Oscar Turkey Burgers

1 package of super lean ground Turkey

1/2 cup raw kale

1/3 cup chopped green onion

1/3 cup low fat cottage cheese

2 cloves of garlic

dash of salt and pepper

Place Kale, Cottage Cheese, Garlic , Bell Pepper, Salt and Pepper in food processor. And blend!

Mix the blended mixture in with your turkey meat, form into patties and cook on stove top or grill! Delish and a great way to sneak in some healthy greens!

Who wouldn't want to eat that?!? Ha!

Didn't realize my camera was all steamed up!

Served with fresh steamed broccoli and apple slices! Perfect Summer Meal!

Since the boys have been sick, I haven't even seen the gym :(   Fingers Crossed that they will be feeling better by tomorrow so that I can get in there and make up for lost time. I'm hoping to blog a lot more about workouts and what not in the next few posts so here's to me being able to get in the gym for a little inspiration!!!! 

<3 Brothers <3

Long Day....Short Weekend

Well as exhausted as I am, I must add another post this evening. I made some super yummy stuff this weekend that I just have to share. I just returned from taking Tripp to the ER and the poor lil fella has the Croup, and when I came home....I found this waiting on the stairs from Brock and Daddy! And to the right is a picture of Tripp still smiling even though he's so sick in the hospital   : (
So on the agenda tonight.....Green Smoothies, Almond Meal Chicken, and what I'm gonna call SouthWest Quinoa served with my South West Ranch Dressing!!!

First up is the Green Smoothie
1/2 cup non fat milk
1/2 cup Water
2 cups raw spinach
1 small banana
1 scoop of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tsp of flax seeds or chia seeds

Brock drank an entire glass of this stuff soo I'd say it was a hit. Tripp was too sick to want to try it but I thought it was pretty good myself. I think it would have been a tad better had the banana been frozen as well so next time thats what I'll do!




















Almond Chicken 
Marinade
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tsp tomato paste
2 sundried tomatos chopped fine (you could probably leave this out but I threw it in anyway)
3 egg whites
1/2 cup water

I cut the chicken breast into strips and let them sit in this for about an hour, I also used a lil salt and pepper to taste

Dredge (first time I've heard that word but I like it, I kept saying it over and over , try it ....Dredge....its fun to say) LOL I'm probably officially to tired to be blogging lol but thanks for reading Anyways onto the DREDGE
1 cup Almond Meal or Flour they are the same
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp Mrs. Dash or mixed spices of your choice and a dash of salt and pepper

I breaded the chicken with the DREDGE and then grilled them until they were done, I'm sure you could bake them and they would turn out just as good! And let me tell you that SouthWest Dressing is the Bomb!!! Soo Good, here's the recipe!
I kinda just kept tasting this as I added each ingredient and it turned out perfect sooo not a whole lot of measuring going on. Start out with 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt then add
Balsamic Vinegar, Hot Sauce, Seasoned Salt, Chili Powder, a lil left over Tomato Paste from your marinade, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Lemon Juice and Water .....it was Delish!!!!

I made this the night that Tripp got Sick so I wasn't able to take a picture of everything plated up and all pretty but the side dish was my very own South West Quinoa. You start out by adding one can of Black Beans (drained), 1/2 cup chopped Onion, and 1 chopped Tomato. Cook over medium heat and add a dash of garlic powder , salt and pepper. Cook about 2 cups of Quinoa separately either in your Rice Cooker (which is what I prefer, it comes out perfect every time) or on the stove according to package directions. Then in a large bowl mix the cooked Quinoa with the Black Bean mixture, add a little Olive Oil to lube it up a bit, and salt and pepper to taste!

SOoooooo Good I'll absolutely be making this again!!!! One of my favorite Quinoa dishes so far! Also if you aren't familiar with Quinoa I encourage you to google it, its very healthy for you and just about the only grain-like side dish that I allow myself to have these days. Very high in protein and its basically like rice if you ask me....love the stuff. It can usually be found at Harris Teeter or Kroger, but its cheapest at Trader Joe's.

In my last post I talked about the Tahini thats necessary to make hummus, well I found this picture of my first shot at a Tahini! And I also saw at Kroger a store bought sesame seed Tahini. Who woulda thought! But I'm pretty sure its a LOT cheaper to make your own, I think this jar was around $9! 

And here is a picture of how my husband chooses to torture me on the weekends, but I swear I said No....thats right I didn't even have one tiny lil doughnut hole. Why? you ask ...seriously its just a doughnut hole, well because I know that I cannot control myself when it comes to stuff like this. One will quickly turn into 4 or 5 and then I'll feel like shit all day and full of guilt......I've made up my mind that I honestly may never eat treats like this ever again because of the lack of control that I have, so I've made it my mission to come up with new and healthy treats instead of this garbage. He also made some Pillsbury chocolate chunk cookies on Sat. night and had the whole house smelling like damn Betty Crocker herself was in the kitchen but I said  NO to those as well, and if you know me , you'll know that that is HUGE!!!

Here's a picture of my Saturday morning Breakfast , the usual with Kale instead of spinach this time as well as a piece of Ezekiel toast with coconut butter. I got the Ezekiel bread because its actually made of spouts instead of grains, and every now and then I'll treat myself to a piece, and the coconut butter was a treat from "Whole Paycheck" that I just wanted to try. 

And Last but not least my favorite choice of lunch these days. A Kale/Spinach Salad topped with fresh strawberries and grilled chicken, and Newmans Own Light Balsamic Vinegar Dressing. Delish! By the way side note.....Kale is awesome....I'm really starting to love that stuff more and more. Also another side note....every morning when I make my eggs and I add in some type of greens,...when they are about done I add a splash of water to add a steaming effect which helps cook down the greens as well as makes your eggwhites super fluffy!!! Oh and its nice to cook up a bunch of chicken at once and have it cut up in tupperware containers in the fridge, ready to spring into action at any minute! Ha!  PREPARATION IS KEY! I can't say it enough, but I'll save that for another post! 

As far as workouts this weekend....I taught Body Pump Friday, Sat. and Sunday and today I stayed for Paige's awesome Body Combat (aka Cardio Kickboxing) class for  my cardio....workouts are gonna be slim for the next couple days since the boys are sick so I'll have to be on my A game when it comes to my food! 

Hope you all have a great week....Meal Plans and Workouts planned and ready to make happen!! :)